Babies: I always knew I wanted kids. It was never really even a question for me. I liked baby-sitting when I was younger, and even started my own chapter of the “Baby-Sitter’s Club“. But what it’s taken me a few years to totally comprehend and admit is that I’m really not a baby person. Sure, I love my own babies, and I can appreciate others. But it’s definitely not my favorite stage. I don’t feel the overwhelming desire to hold any baby in the room. I only slightly mourn the loss as my own babies become toddlers. I am much more enthusiastic once they can play and communicate (in various forms). Perhaps this is because neither of my children have been exceptionally cuddly babies, preferring to be down moving around and playing at all times. If I ever get a cuddly one, you can check back and see if my entry has changed.

Baton: I am a third generation baton twirler. Although, I guess that’s a little misleading. My grandmother taught herself to twirl baton, and then coached my mom and aunt. Both of them were exceptionally good, winning lots of competitions, including the state championships. During college, they coached a national championship team. I’ve seen a scratchy video of the championship performance, and it’s amazing. So, when I was in high school, I wanted to carry on the tradition (and a little bit I wanted to get out of having to play an instrument in the marching band), so I asked my mom to teach me to twirl. My friend and I twirled for the next three years, including fire batons, though we were never outstanding. To this day, though, the word “Baton” never fails to get my mom’s attention. My brother and I use it as our secret weapon when she’s not hearing anything else we say (“Mom… Mom! MOM!! HEY MOM!!!…. BATON!!!!”). See also: Hearing loss

Birthmark: I don’t have one. But when I was born, my lung collapsed because of meconium aspiration syndrome. So the doctors did emergency surgery by cutting into my chest and re-inflating my lung. So, I’ve always had a little cross shaped scar on my left chest that I’ve called my birthmark. It’s pretty faded now, but I always thought it was pretty cool – a badge of courage or something. Interestingly enough, my brother also suffered from meconium aspiration syndrome at birth. So my parents stopped having kids after that.

Books: I used to be a bookworm. I read constantly. But, like many, that all ended in college, when reading for fun was no longer an option. And now it’s a lot harder to find time to read as much as I used to. Actually, I do find the time. But I find it in places that should contain doing chores, or playing with kids, or generally functioning as the adult in the house. So I try not to do that too often. See also: Books, Children‘s

Books, Children’s: I am highly disappointed in the quality of most children’s books lately. They all have a really great cover, great title, and even a great concept. And the story is AWFUL. It’s like people who write and publish children’s books these days have absolutely no concept of who their audience is.

Breakfast: I dislike or merely tolerate almost all breakfast foods, especially for more than one day in a row. This list includes eggs & omlettes, french toast, waffles, yogurt, toast, oatmeal, bananas and especially cold cereal. For this reason, I often skip breakfast. Not because I mean to, but because I take so long figuring out what to eat, that I get distracted and it’s lunch time by the time I remember. Favorite breakfast foods – Cold Pizza or Brownie Sin Bars. See also: Addictions

Brunette: My natural hair color. I was blonde as a small child, but progressively got darker until I was 10, and had to die my hair black for a part in the musical South Pacific. It just never went back after that. See also: Accents

Bryan: My maiden name. Honestly, I don’t know where it comes from. I never bothered to ask the question. But I do know that, growing up, I thought it was annoying that people always spelled wrong, like “Brian”. But it worked because they always spelled my first and middle names wrong too. I have since joined a Facebook group called “People Who Always Have to Spell Their Names for Other People”. I also was always slightly bothered by the fact that you could remove one letter from my name and I would have had three guy’s names: Karl Jo[e] Bryan. Weird.

Butterfly, Beautiful: My first Halloween costume, age 2. Complete with “deely bobber” antennae. My mother made it, as she did all my Halloween costumes for the first 10 or so years of my life. So far, I have made a some total of…uh…zero Halloween costumes for my children.

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